How tall are Talin, Rini, and Adam?

-Matthew

Sincere apologies for the pornography that the spambots have vomited all over the board.  They went way too far beyond far yesterday, and I've altered the registration process accordingly.

Hope that it works.  If it doesn't, I'll make further changes.

Thanks for your patience.

-Matthew

I'm staring at those last few paragraphs and I can't believe what I'm reading.  This is a joke, right Matthew?

Did I spell something wrong?

-Matthew

Congratulations!  What a happy announcement.  We'll all be rooting for your healthy pregnancy and healthy child.

-Matthew

I became a red member and then this happens to Talin.  Maybe I'm the jinx? 

Someone warn Anosanim.  He's next.

-Matthew

Well, this poll's probably over.

-Matthew

I'm so sorry.  If/when you come out to whom should always be your decision, made at your pace.  You have all of my love and support.

-Matthew

it even squeaked at me has I was taking the hook out

Fish squeak?

I may have to broaden my basic knowledge of the aquatic world.

-Matthew

there is something VERY fishy going on with Ritek.  From skillfully avoiding going to the police station

From ITL 137:

            Anosanim answered every question to the fullest of his knowledge.  He wanted to be as helpful as possible, so he was honest about which things he knew and remembered with perfect accuracy, and which things he was a little fuzzy about.  Selorin had told him that witnesses who, seeking to aid the investigation, “remembered” more than they actually did, were more harmful than helpful, and could send the investigators in the wrong direction.

            When he finished, he wanted to stay; he couldn’t leave Talin during this.  So, after Ritek was through, Anosanim borrowed a little interrogation room, so he’d have somewhere more private to wait.  He felt tense, jittery, and he toyed with his hair as he paced the room, twirling loose strands around his fingers.  “I can’t believe that this is happening.  I can’t believe that they thought that they’d get away with it!  And I just can’t believe that someone like Lo Hunosetu would steal from another designer!  He’s practically a legend!”

            “It’s easy to get away with it,” Ritek said.  “Most people can’t tell the difference between two designers’ work on sight.  Who really knows the difference between Dunaronah’s cuffs and Setimetik’s?  To the two of us, it’s obvious at a glance.  To anyone else, it’s just the end of a sleeve.”

This looks to me like Anosanim and Ritek are at the police station together, and they both speak with the investigators.

-Matthew

Presuming to speak on Diamond's behalf, she's fine.  Thank you for asking!

Talin, on the other hand...

-Matthew

Hi!

-Matthew

136.19 "My friend’s cousin’s friend’s neighbor’s sister lives next door to them, and they’re best friends..."

I had to read over that at least twice to make sure that it didn't circle back or contradict itself.

To contribute to the thread, also from Rini, from ITL 136:

I don’t want you to look at me and think of my intestines or anything.

-Matthew

I really want to join in here and add my two cents, but I don't want to skew opinions, so I'll stay out of it.  But, good discussion!  Thanks for joining us, Dena.

-Matthew

It's up!

My work here is done.  Now, I shall go and forage for food.

Thanks for reading!

-Matthew

Should be up soon.

Fingers crossed.

-Matthew

Part of board maintenance is going through the member list, banning and deleting spambots.  There are some "members" I've left in, to be on the safe side, because I don't want to end up accidentally banning and deleting real board members and readers.  But I'm going to get a little more strict about who stays and who goes, just to weed out the riffraff.

To anyone who accidentally gets booted, you have my sincere apologies in advance.

If you've posted on the board, you should be safe.

-Matthew

[CIALEX.]

The end of this chapter nearly killed me. Xio Voe and emotions are so, so... *flails*

Kudorin reacted with sunshine and butterflies.  Dude.  CIALEX.

-Matthew

But I think it was a good idea for Talin to wait to talk to  because he seemed very mad when he burst into  apartment and that probably would have caused more trouble.

I'm disappointed that we missed out on a good angry Talin scene.  And it makes me wonder if Anosanim would've been upset or yelled back or what.

-Matthew

I think for the twins, their significant other needs to *click* with the other twin. Because they're so close, if the boyfriend doesn't get along/hang out/click with the twin, the relationship is missing something.

He's kept "separate" from them, and that bothers me. Perhaps it's Anosanim's doing, I dunno. But the fact remains that there's no relationship at all between Talin and Ritek... that's why I don't think it's gonna work.

That's why Anosanim was always so "into" Talin's relationships, so close to the boyfriends. With Ritek, you don't have that (yet?).

Hmm.  What's with all of these nails?  How strange.  It looks like Falconer's hit them all on the head.

-Matthew

would Xio Voe not be upset if one of his family members were really sad?

Apparently not.  I guess that makes his life easier, overall.

it's been a very very *very* long time since I encountered a word and honestly had to think about what it meant.

There've been times over the years that I've used a word that my adviser has recommended that I change.  I usually resist, and we go back and forth over it, and she makes a good point, and I relent.  It's best, my adviser and I agree, for readers to roll along smoothly with the text, and not have to stop and consult a dictionary.  (I don't bring that up as a comment on my vocabulary or yours; it's just something that happens occasionally.)

Did Anosukinom just call Xio Voe a cialex or did I completely imagine that???

And Xio Voe let him.   

Sometimes it's hard to forget just how young they all are.

I know.  This line from ITL 34 always makes me reconsider:

As the pharaoh’s birthday approached, the city and the palace filled with visitors hoping to attend the celebration.  “After all,” someone was overheard to say, “it isn’t every day that the most powerful man in the world turns twenty-four.”

Anosanim and Talin are only twenty.  Now, when I was younger, sure, being twenty meant you were an adult.  Now that I've met twenty and moved on, I'm like, man, I'm glad that no one put me in charge of a country's well-being at that age.

*gasp* Xio Voe is lying.  To Anosukinom.

Kudorin took that really well in stride, though.  I was kind of surprised that he didn't comment on it.

Cocky, ain't he?

That's our boy.

-Matthew

On the subject of Ritek:

He's TRYING to fix things, its not his fault those two are being stubborn.

Ritek genuinely seems to want to help Anosanim.  With anything, really, but he knows how important Talin is to Anosanim (really, I think that the entire country got that memo), and he sees how miserable Anosanim is, and he wants Anosanim to be happy, so he's offering whatever advice he can come up with.

OMGGGGGGG   Xio Voe got YELLED at!!

Is that even legal?

-Matthew

I LOVED this chapter!

 

I think, no matter what, Anosanim having a boyfriend would have taken him away from the palace.  The present situation is just heavily exacerbating what would have happened, in some form or another anyway, with any boyfriend that Anosanim had.  It's not all about him running away to Ritek so he can avoid dealing with Talin (I agree, though, he's doing that).  But even if things were normal, he'd still be gone more often (though I don't believe as much as he has been, what with his deliberately avoiding interrupting Talin and Hitari and inadvertently just avoiding Talin altogether).

I do think that a lot of the reason he's at Ritek's place so much is that he wants to leave the palace specifically to avoid Talin.  Under other/normal circumstances I can see Anosanim and Ritek going out for a date and then returning to the palace, or I can see Ritek coming to see Anosanim at the palace instead of Anosanim going to see Ritek.  So Ritek would take up Anosanim's time, but Anosanim would still have plenty of time at home, available to Talin.  Right now, Anosanim just seems to want to get away from Talin.

it's not necessarily the presence of a boyfriend--I think he's doing a really effective job of pushing Talin away on his own, and Talin is "playing along" and actually helping him.  If he didn't run to Ritek, he probably would have run somewhere else

I see this, too.

the tiny butterfly

Which I really want to name.  Something like The Butterfly of Feelings.

-Matthew

Anosanim brought a small trunk with him

Anosanim will not be caught without necessary supplies ever again.  Do not seek to separate the man from his make-up!

in the Jacacean mindset, Xio Voe is probably as "perfect" as Anosukinom is for Anorians

Absolutely.

Desin and Norisa are so cute together!

Desin took a back seat to his own tiger.  Alas.

You know, Xio Voe has been "criticized" for having no emotions, but I love how open and sincere he is when he *does* feel something... like with Kudorin.

I really admire his honesty.  I'd almost expect him to deny that he ever feels anything, but when he does feel something, he owns up to it.  He's direct, he has integrity, and he's very open with Kudorin.  ("Very" being relative; this is Xio Voe.)

Great chapter Matthew!

Thank you!

-Matthew

 

 

Jae, seriously, the Xio Voe page is amazing.  Thank you so much.  I can't believe it has all of that information on it, and I wrote that stuff to begin with.  Also, A+ on the organizing and formatting.

-Matthew

“You see,” Desin said, spreading his arms along the back of the sofa and grinning expansively, “I am a potent man with tremendous genitals.  My manhood’s overpowering.”

-Matthew

You'll find out later today in ITL 130.

(Unless that part gets edited out, but I don't imagine that it will.  Although, if it does, I apologize for taunting you with information you can't have.)

-Matthew

I'm a dork, so I'm almost tempted to make a bestiary page for mythical creatures from different countries.

Why would you encourage me?

-Matthew

is my possessiveness of the Xio Voe page too obvious?

I have no idea what you're talking about.

-Matthew

Anyone have the time to mine this passage for information on Xio Voe's rings?

From ITL 80.7:

            Returning with a box, Juoruve handed something to Xio Voe with a bow and a hastily murmured, “I am grateful for the honor, Your Highness.”  Xio Voe slipped a ring onto his finger.  A ring?  He’d given her one of his rings to grant her access to his private laboratory.  His official imperial seal?

            It was none of his affair, but he had to ask.  “Your Highness, did-”

            “It’s one of my imperial rings,” Xio Voe said, not even glancing at him, unpacking the contents of the box.  “Juoruve knows the password to gain entry to my laboratory, and that ring shows that she has my permission.  She has been there before, to assist me.”  He finally glanced over at Bade.  “I suppose that you’d like to see it.”

            The Heir’s imperial ring?  “May I?” Bade asked.  He couldn’t resist also asking, “You have more than one?”

            “Forgive me for not anticipating that question, as well,” Xio Voe said dryly, and, reaching over, dropped a handful of rings into his cupped palms, one by one.  “This one conveys that I am a member of the Jacacean imperial family.  This one conveys that I am The Heir.  This one conveys that I am a member of the Xio dynasty.”

            They were solid.  Heavier than his own, or Orinakin’s.  Elegantly engraved, with enormous stones.  Right there in his hands, Bade felt the weight of Xio Voe’s importance.  He was holding history in his hands.  The Heir.  His gaze slid to Xio Voe’s hands, where history rested every day.  The rings left on Xio Voe’s fingers were so stunningly ornate that they weren’t even outclassed by the official imperial rings.  He wondered-

            “These two rings show that I’m a member of the Imperial Jacacean Scientific Society and the Imperial Jacacean Mathematics Society.  The rest are merely decorative.”

            Decorative?  Those flawlessly cut chunks of rock were merely decorative?  The sultan didn’t wear rings nearly that well designed, and he didn’t wear jewels nearly that big, either.  And, oh.  Oh.  Bade couldn’t take his gaze away from the perfection on Xio Voe’s finger.  How had he not noticed that before?  How had he not seen...

            Twisting the ring off, Xio Voe handed it to him wordlessly.

            Oh.  An enormous purple diamond, pure and clear.  Surrounded by dark, glittering amethysts.  More, small purple diamonds were caught in the band.  So perfect, he could see Orinakin in there, could see the way the light shone on strands of Orinakin’s hair, could see beads of water glistening from Orinakin’s sweeping eyelashes, could hear the intimate murmur of Orinakin’s voice in private moments.  The ring wasn’t just purple, it was majestic, it was exquisite, it was perfect.

            “Heir Voe is fortunate enough to be able to wear any color he pleases,” Orinakin said smoothly, suddenly at Bade’s side.  “He has fine jewels in all shades.  The imperial family is highly respected for the quality of its pieces.”

            “I can see why.”  Bade gazed down into the huge purple diamond.  It was beautifully cut.  The amethysts crowding around it respectfully were of a mysterious, dark shade, fascinating but polished, like Orinakin’s beauty, like Orinakin’s gracious manners, like Orinakin’s mind.

            “If I may.”  Xio Voe plucked the other rings from his hand, sliding them back on.

Not sure if this deserves its own page or just belongs in the glossary, or on the Ilaeia page under culture.

ITL 24.12

“Do you know of the old Ilaeian legend of the oiapaienei? The beautiful young women with flawless faces and deadly hearts, who draw men between their thighs and then kill them for pleasure?”

-Matthew

Orinakin, ITL 1.4:

...his eyebrows were purple, and so were his long, thick lashes, light as lilac at the tips.  Even the hair on his forearms looked kind of purple, although his long sleeves tended to cover it, so Bade couldn’t be sure.

You'd already included "Purple eyebrows and lashes," but I like the detail that his lashes go (so it would seem) from dark to light.

-Matthew

started to read a story that sounds similar to this one, about this guy who "was looking for a master"

He's not looking for one.  When he meets Adam, he sees that Adam could be one/is one for him, but there's no hint whatsoever that he's looking for one.  In fact, he's freshly out of a relationship, so it seems more like he's not looking for one.

But since you said it was not hardcore, I'll give it a try.

Thanks for trying it!  It's not hardcore at all.

-Matthew

Oh, wow. This is amazing.

Thank you!   

Think Brett has enough piercings?

Not at all!  Let's try for a few more.

-Matthew

Master?

See, I knew that would get you.  I thought of you specifically while I considered whether or not to mention the BDSM elements of the story.

The thing is, there are BDSM "elements," and that's about it.  There's no sadism or masochism.  It's really about submission, and what it means to submit, and reacting to that, etc.  Anyone who prefers heavy BDSM and picked up "Affair in Paradise" would be disappointed, I think.  Not in the way that the elements are handled, but just in that it's not very hard-core.

I think that it's light enough, or treated calmly enough, for non-BDSM readers to be fine.

Then again, my perspective is different from others', and I'd like to hear other folks' thoughts on the subject.

I'm not trying to downplay the BDSM; I just don't want to claim that more is there than is actually present.  Have you read it, or did the master scare you away?

-Matthew

I'll post an excerpt later today or tomorrow.  I'll also post a link to "Affair in Paradise" as soon as it's available on Torquere's site.  If y'all notice that it's up before I do, you're welcome to let folks know.

Torquere's main site is here: http://www.torquerepress.com/

-Matthew

From my LiveJournal:

For those of you who want to know what the story's about before you buy it, here you go! I wasn't sure how much information to include (don't want to give away all of the good stuff) so I settled on this:

"Affair in Paradise" is the story of Adam, whose friend Stacy has dragged him along on a tropical vacation, where he meets Brett. Brett is friendly, hot, and recently single. When Brett won't respond to Adam's advances, Adam sets him up for a night of seduction. In their tropical paradise, will Brett finally make this a vacation to remember?

-Matthew

I heartily approve.

(Assuming, of course, that Jae doesn't want to wrestle you for it.)

-Matthew

I cannot resist adding: shoon!

Shoon!

-Matthew

Great idea!  Mind if I post this on LiveJournal?

-Matthew

The clans specifically seem to use the same word as noun and adjective.  It's Kela no matter what, unlike America/American.  I believe that it's the same across the board for all clans.

-Matthew

I've been clicking. I worked for a porn company the summer after high school... this is making me a bit nostalgic.

You just get more and more interesting.

-Matthew

My new short story, "Affair in Paradise," will be published this Saturday, March 28th, by Torquere.

 

Questions welcome!

-Matthew

I was thinking about how Bade is set up as the primary relatable character in ITL.  He opens the series for us and as he's introduced to Orina Anoris, so are we.

This analogy fails on several levels, but I'd say that, in "Living," Drew is the primary relatable character.  He's not exactly on the outside looking in, but he's set up to be more "normal" than the superstars around him.

Then I thought about "Sucker."  Clearly, in "Sucker," we're on the level of *NSYNC.  We know what they know; more than O-Town, but less than the Boys.  And I think that the most relatable character is Chris.  Yes, he's crazy, but he's still accessible.  Joey isn't as forthcoming; Justin is too, uh, whatever Justin is.

What do you think?

-Matthew

So this is what I came up with - I present to you the Orina Anoris Hotel and Resort.

That is awesome.  You're fantastic.  We have to build this.

-Matthew

[intelligent]

Dude, Xio Voe totally dissed Selorin!

 

"Um, I'm used to speaking to people who are, you know, actually intelligent, not immature dunces like you.  Also, your brother's smart, but Orina Anoris sucks and he's totally being wasted working here."

Dude, it is so on!

-Matthew

You won't believe how proud of myself I was the day I could rattle off "ri ti mi ki bi ni di li hi si" without cheating.

-Matthew

I think that discussing the differences is fine.  Saying that one's better than another, or that one isn't as good as another, isn't cool.  But I think that acknowledging that different religions have different gods and different rituals and different beliefs should be okay.  That's probably what Remin studied for years.

-Matthew

YaY the smileys get to have a party altogether!   

Exactly my reaction!  That is one rockin' party.  Get your groove on, everybody!

-Matthew

A cold war is:
* intense economic, political, military, and ideological rivalry between nations, short of military conflict; sustained hostile political policies and an atmosphere of strain between opposed countries. (dictionary.com)
* a conflict over ideological differences carried on by methods short of sustained overt military action and usually without breaking off diplomatic relations. (merriam-webster.com)

I think these are the definitions Falconer's using.

-Matthew

Diamond's moved posts from the T'rin, Hitari, and Jacacean threads over to the Casting ITL thread.  Also deleted posts like the ones in the Remin thread that had been moved to the hair thread.

From now on, let's post images in the casting or hair threads (or the thread on what Jacacea looks like).  So if we want to look over possibilities of what folks look like, we can enjoy one-stop shopping.

If you see any stray images we missed, please let us know.

Thanks!

-Matthew

[Casting ITL]

This thread has been edited to move images, and the discussion of images, to the Casting ITL thread.

I'm lost...   

Lost about what?  Let us help you find the way!

-Matthew

Over in the Older Siblings/Younger Siblings KROSDATE thread, people talked back and forth about how much international influence the individual Siblings have.

In ITL 21.1, there's this:

“If you became king here,” Bade said, “would that have a stabilizing effect? Or are your enemies too far from here to care?”
“I would send for my father’s allies, and his enemies, and they would come,” T’rin said. “I would demand peace,” his eyes glittered, “and I would have it.”
“That would work?” Bade asked, amazed. “They’d listen to you?”
“No higher authority than Anosukinom walks the planet,” T’rin said. “They shall obey him. And his king.”

I take that to mean that no one's more influential than Kudorin.  Do we take T'rin's word for it?

-Matthew

Thanks for posting this here.

 

-Matthew

McCartny!  Congratulations on making it to red!

-Matthew

I think that sounds good.  Keeping things organized.  So we can discuss T'rin, Hitari, etc., all we want, but have one-stop shopping for speculation on images and appearances.  And a general thread for hair sounds good, too.

I'm down.

-Matthew

[AWESOME]

I'm leaning, also, towards calling it, rather than a straight-out Xio Voe dream page, something like, "The Tragedy of Orinakin and Fet Kailoe,"

Dude, that would be awesome.  Sweet.

I might decide to organize what happened in chronological order in sub-headings, and within each sub-heading there will be everything we got from Fet Kailoe's perspective and then everything we got from his Orinakin so we can see how they both felt about certain events that happened (if both perspectives were shown), and how they both saw it, if it's available to us.

Nice!  Good, good.  That sounds great.

It's going to be enormous and very sad

See, this makes it all sound so cool and impressive.  I really like all of the stuff you want to include.  It's going to be AWESOME.

-Matthew

Since they're short stories, I linked to them from the short stories page.  Is there somewhere else that makes more sense to y'all?  I don't want everyone to have to search and hunt to find stuff.

-Matthew

Thank you, Vani!

Go green!

-Matthew

This is horribly incomplete, but here are four random descriptions of T'rin:

...but [Bade's] musculature wasn’t as fiercely chiseled as T’rin’s... [ITL 14.2]

T’rin was muscular from effort, dark from the sun, and in touch with the land. [ITL 16]

It was amazing, how perfectly defined his muscles were, like he was a living sculpture of the perfect athlete. [ITL 22.8]

T’rin’s body was hard and warm, powerful and sleek, with devastating muscular detail... [ITL 26.6]

T'rin's frequently described as muscular, but it's often with specific mentions of how defined/detailed/chiseled his muscles are, not how big they are.  Considering what his job is, he has to be pretty light and fast.  So, in my mind, that's less Desin/dukot and more "sleek."

-Matthew

I don't want to stifle the conversation.  I encourage y'all to discuss ITL in all directions.  That's what this board is for! 

At the same time, our world and the world of ITL aren't the same, and too much discussion where we put our cultural values/histories/etc. onto ITL's universe may lead readers to continue in those directions.  When I write ITL, I'm carefully constructing a large world and several detailed societies.  If we here on the board make real-life associations between our world and ITL's world, readers may pick up on those ideas and carry them over and apply them as they read ITL.  Which confuses a lot of the issues and ideas I'm trying to present.

What we know of basic human experience and human interactions, absolutely, bring those in.  The ITL folks are human and they share in the same emotions we do.

But if you know a lot of French diplomats, don't expect Orinakin to act just like them, because "that's how diplomats act."  That's how diplomats act here on Earth inside of the culture, constraints, and political hierarchy of France.  Which has nothing to do with Orina Anoris.

That being said, Matthew if my remarks have managed to case any offences, that was not my intention it was most unconsciously done. I apologies, I meant no slight on your work, your world or your vision.

No, not at all.  You're fine.

 

I think that what we're seeing is a recurring theme.  There was some concern about belas, because when we in our world think of sex workers, there's baggage attached.  When we talk about priests, a few people have brought Catholic priests into the conversation (even though they're not relevant) because in our world, that's what we're used to.  And now we're talking about what T'rin looks like, and it's natural to turn to what we know in our world and what we're used to.

Since ITL is a fantasy series, though, it takes place not just "outside of our world" as if they were just next door on Mars; it takes place without our world.  We don't exist.  Our experiences and perspectives aren't theirs and have no bearing on their world.

They do have bearing on how we read and interpret their world, and we have to be careful about when we bring our perspective into it and when we don't.

What you imagine when you see T'rin is, ultimately, up to you.  And unless the text describes him differently, one interpretation is as valid as another.

If we say, Kudorin's a pharaoh, Egypt has pharaohs, therefore Kudorin looks Egyptian, that would be inaccurate, because you're basing what Kudorin looks like based on this world.

Now, I will say, the world of ITL (aside from having two moons) seems to follow our math and science pretty closely, so I imagine that their weather/atmosphere/whatever works similarly to ours.  I would guess that, having whole clans of people frequently exposed to the elements for generations upon generations, on the plains (which don't sound like a tundra), the sun would get to them after a while, and their skin wouldn't be pasty-white.  But that leaves open a lot of variety of shading.

-Matthew

I love the work y'all are doing on the wiki.  Aside from its general awesomeness, it's a huge help to me as I write.  Special thanks to all of you, and super-special thanks to Jae.  (I love how on top of it Jae is.  I roam around the wiki, admiring pages, and I'm like, man, I wish there were a page for whatever, and then I do a search, and there it is.  I can't imagine how much time I'm sucking from Jae's life.)

Jump in and correct me if this has already been done, but: where do we put Xio Voe's dreams?  The whole Fet Kailoe/Orinakin saga?  There's a page about The Ring (hooray) but what about the rest of it?

I think that my main question is, what do we name the page?  Or does it not get a separate page; should we just put information relevant to Xio Voe on his page, information relevant to Fet Kailoe on his page, and information relevant to Orinakin on the "royal diplomat" page?

-Matthew

Y'all have to look at Xio Voe's page.

http://www.matthewhaldemantime.com/wiki/index.php?title=Xio_Voe

 

-Matthew

   Thank you!

            “In your virginal confusion,” the earl said forcefully, hauling him up with a flex of powerful muscles, “you know not what you say.  But fear not, sweet lord.  For I will teach you all that you have ever longed to know,” his voice lowered meaningfully as he pushed Jonathan down across the bed, “of passion.”

            “That,” Jonathan said, tugging at the earl’s clothes, “sounds great.”  Slipping a hand down the front of the earl’s breeches, he hesitated.  “Oh, that’s,” um, “maybe-”

            “Your innocently awkward and fumbling touch has located the remains of my breakfast,” the earl declared, plucking a short bit of sausage from Jonathan’s hand.  “Perhaps what you seek, you will find…here,” and he shifted his hips forward, pressing Jonathan’s hand to, oh, god.

            “I thought that was your thigh.”

How could I stop after one story?  I had to see more!

-Matthew

Cross-posted from my LiveJournal at blondiechic0's request:

Excellent reader A sent me links to three photos I had to pass along.

(There's no "images" warning on this thread because I don't think that anyone's vision of Anosanim or Remin will be tainted.)

The first two are of Anosanim; the last is Remin.  But you probably guessed that.

Thank you, Saskie!  It's great.

If it's okay with you, I'll add it to the fan art gallery.  (Which I'm way behind in updating.)

Thanks again!

-Matthew

Did that just happen?!?!

What?!  What?!

-Matthew

I'm so tired that I actually fell asleep while I was formatting this.  My apologies if anything's amiss.

-Matthew

No more rice fields and lakes and mango trees.

That's such a shame.  I'm sorry to hear that.

-Matthew

I have four due over the next two weeks that I just want to go away

Ouch.  We all send helpful, insightful thoughts your way!

-Matthew

That's a really interesting way of examining the text.  I vote that all literature majors should have a mandatory class on formalism.

The structuralist stuff, though, makes me nervous as an author.

-Matthew

Don't Anorians have deoderant?

Try to stand upwind of Desin.

-Matthew

I won't even type  , I always type either the Pharaoh or Anosukinom.

Xio Voe and Remin approve.

-Matthew

[no one ever]

While I'm here:

All of the suitors get a short story.  (Except for Bade and Xio Voe.  We've seen quite enough of them already, thank you.)  So yes, you'll get to see more of Lansester, and learn about Wamesh and Jonan.

We saw more of Bade's set of suitors than Xio Voe's.  In part because Bade saw his fellow suitors as competition, and Xio Voe sees no one ever as competition for anything he wants.

The suitor's tales give us a good chance to check up on the guys, see what they're into, what happened to them, and why they showed up in the first place.

I wanted to post Lansester's tale with Gael's at the same time, but I have no idea when I'll get around to writing Lansester's, and I couldn't in good conscience withhold Gael's story.

Thank you all for the great comments!

-Matthew